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' — ' *"* ' Athletic Handbooks 

No. 85R. 




LAWN TENNIS 
FOR GIRLS 



BY 

Mlle. Lenglen 

The Noted French Player 



Edited by 

EUSTACE E. WHITE 

of London 




PUBLISHED BY 

AMERICAN SPORTS PUBLISHING CO. 
45 Rose Street, New York 



GopyriRht. 1920, by American Sports Publishing Company 



\f\D 






CONTENTS 

Chapter I page 

"My Own Game'' 5 

Chapter II 
Equipment . 17 

Chapter III 
Elements of the Game, and Style . . 24 

Chapter IV 
Ground Strokes 31 

Chapter V 
Volley and Half -Volley . . . ., 40 

Chapter VI 
Service and Overhead Play ... 51 

Chapter VII 
Tactics 63 

Chapter VIII 
Tournament Tennis 75 

Chapter IX 
Common Faults, Miscellaneous Hints 82 

Chapter X 
The Evolution of Ladies' Play . . 89 

©CI,A571918 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Facing 
Page 

Mile. Lenglen Frontispiece 

Equipped for Battle 8 ^ 

Correct Grip for Backhand, with Thumb Down.. 9 

Beginning of Forehand Horizontal Drive 16 

Beginning of Backhand Drive 17 

Finishing Backhand Drive 24 

Overhand Service — Back View 25 

Low Backhand Volley 32 * 

Smashing — Eyes on the Ball 33 v 

Beginning of Forehand Drive, as Flayed by Mrs. 

Lambert Chambers 40 ^ 

Another Finish of the Forehand Drive 41* 

Forehand Cut Drive or Underhand Service, as 

Played by Mrs. Larcombe 48 

Backhand Cut Drive as Played by Mrs. Larcombe 49 

Tactics — In the Final of the Championship vs. 

Mrs. Satterthwaite 64 

Mixed Doubles — About to Lob 65 

Diagram of a Singles Court 80 

Diagram of a Doubles Court 81 , 



I wish to thank Vicomte and Vicomtesse de Lapre for 
kind help in the work of translating from the French. 

E. E. W. 



Photos by "Sports and General," London 



PREFACE TO AMERICAN 
EDITION 

Every so often a really great player ap- 
pears in the firmament and shines with 
unusual brilliancy. 

Mile. Lenglen is undoubtedly one of 
this galaxy and takes her place alongside 
May Sutton Bundy and Mrs. Lambert 
Chambers in the women's tennis Hall of 
Fame. 

This book not only proves Mile. Leng- 
len to be a born tennis player (if that term 
can be used) but a conscientious student 
of the game. It shows a thorough per- 
ception of the handicap under which the 
sex labors in this great sport, and in its 
simple treatment must assuredly aid the 
girl more than any treatise by any man, 
no matter how expert he may be. Many 
men also can improve their game by 
studying this book carefully. The sound- 
ness of tennis sense and the fact that Mile. 
Lenglen practices whereof she preaches 
places her book in a class by itself in the 
literature of Lawn Tennis. 

F. B. Alexander. 



LAWN TENNIS FOR GIRLS 

CHAPTER I 

"my own game" 

Let me begin this little book with some 
account of my own game; of how I 
learned it, developed it; of the strokes I 
play, the methods I use, and the principles 
on which my game is based. 

Besides this, I shall write down any- 
thing in connection with my play and my 
experience of tennis wbicti I think may 
prove helpful to readers.. 

I address myself specially to girls, but 
that is no reason why boys, and even men, 
should not find something useful in these 
pages. "Girls," taken literally, is a some- 
what limited term. For the purposes of 
this book it may be stretched to cover 
^%irls" of every age I 

5 



6 Spalding's Athletic Library 

I started tennis at the age of eleven. 
Seeing my parents playing, 1 was eager to 
join them and asked them to give me a 
racket. To please me my mother bought 
me one. Thus parental example and 
parental kindness were responsible for the 
launching of my tennis career. It means 
a great deal to have parents who take an 
interest in one's game. My parents have 
always taken the keenest interest in my 
tennis, and I always try to play my best 
for their sakes, as well as my own. 

After becoming the proud possessor 
of a racket, I was soon playing with my 
father. From the very first I showed a 
natural aptitude for the game and played 
with considerable skill. This induced my 
father to teach me the game in real 
earnest. 

My progress was very quick, and after 
three months, although my backhand was 



Spalding's Athletic Library 7 

far from strong, I entered for the tourna- 
ment at Chantilly. Receiving 15/3 in the 
handicap singles I won the second prize, 
meeting players of good ability. 

For the benefit of those who are not 
familiar with handicap, let me explain 
that 15/3 means 15 one game and 30 the 
next throughout each set. 

Our friends of the Nice Club took a 
great interest in me and gave me all 
possible encouragement. My game de- 
veloped so rapidly that two years later I 
won the right to ha\e my name inscribed 
on two important cups. 

When fourteen I had the honor of play- 
ing with the famous Mr. Wilding in 
mixed doubles at Cannes. That was the 
beginning of my ascent, which in 19 14 
raised me to the championship of the 
world on hard courts. 

A word here about my method of train- 
ing. This is very simple. 



8 Spalding's Athletic Library 

My diet is quite normal; I drink no 
wine or alcoholic drinks of any kind, and 
I go to bed early. Both morning and 
evening I go through various simple 
physical exercises to keep the body fit 
and the limbs supple. In addition to this 
I practice with the skipping-rope. There 
is no better exercise than skipping for 
making one light and springy on the feet 
High jumping, too, is a very favorite ex- 
ercise of mine. 

Never keep on with exercises until you 
feel tired. Physical fitness cannot be 
forced ; it is a gradual growth. 

Swimming is another form of physical 
culture of which I am very fond, and 
which has helped to get and keep me fit 
for hard tennis. Not only does swimming 
keep the limbs supple, but it increases 
one's stamina and lung capacity. Few 
things at tennis are worse, or more likely 




Equipped for battle 
(See page 17) 




V 



Correct grip for backhand, with thumb down 
(See page 27) 



Spalding's Athletic Library 9 

to bring about defeat, than shortness of 
breath. 

I am often asked who coached me at 
^tennis. Was it this famous professional, 
or that? My game, many seem to think, 
can only have been the result of profes- 
sional coaching. 

Well, no professional ever coached me. 
From first to last my father has been my 
only coach. This is vs^hat he did. After 
he had coached me for a good while he 
made a careful selection of the best strokes 
of first-class players; strokes in which 
these players had specialized; strokes 
which he thought worth imitating. Only 
men's strokes were taken. I was to learn, 
as far as possible, to play like a man. 
I was to imitate these strokes, but without 
modelling myself on the movements of 
the players or their manner of making the 
strokes. I was to aim at getting the same 
results as they did, but in my own way. 



10 Spalding's Athletic Library 

I am sometimes asked on what player 
or players I have modelled my style. 

My answer is — on none. 

I made a point of playing in my own 
way, and there is only one stroke I ever 
consciously tried to copy, and that is 
the forehand drive of the great Mr. 
Wilding. 

I take this stroke as high as possible 
so as to avoid any curve on the ball. I 
do not attempt to put top-spin on the ball, 
but hit it with a plain racket: this is 
fully explained in the chapter on ground- 
strokes. I am also most careful to keep 
well away from the ball and play the 
stroke without bending my arm. 

All my other strokes have been bettered 
by assiduous practice in trying to get, by 
hitting the ball truly and by good timing, 
a maximum effect with a minimum effort. 
For this it is necessary to grip the racket 



Spalding's Athletic Library 11 

aright and keep the eye continuously on 
the ball. 

Though I refer to the grip in another 
chapter, I may say that I grip tightly 
for all shots, especially for volleys, and 
have the handle of my racket well 
proportioned to the size of my hand, 
to avoid the racket turning during the 
delivery of the stroke. 

I think my father's plan of selecting the 
strokes of good players for a guide might 
be adopted with advantage by all young 
players eager to improve their game. 

Supposing you wish to learn the 
drop-shot, you only have to watch closely 
how Mrs. Larcombe, or Mrs. Lambert 
Chambers, winner of the English lady 
championship, or Miss Ryan, the Cali- 
fornian, my partner in the ladies' doubles 
championship at Wimbledon, play it to 
get a working knowledge of this shot. You 
will observe that they play it with a cer- 



1 2 Spalding's A thtetic Library 

tain turn of the wrist. You have the secret 
of the shot. But you must, of course, 
learn to drive and volley before attempt- 
ing anything so difficult as the drop-shot. 

At all the principal tournaments you 
may see the different strokes of the game 
played in the right way. If you are for- 
tunate enough to attend these as specta- 
tors, keep your eyes open and learn all 
you can. 

Balance of the body is most important. 
Without perfect balance it is impossible 
to execute strokes well. I pay great atten- 
tion to this. 

What is perfect balance? you ask. If 
at the finish of a forehand drive your 
weight is on your right leg and you are 
leaning away from the ball, that is cer- 
tainly not perfect balance. 

Books on lawn tennis do not say much 
about foot work, and yet it is essential to 
have the feet in the right place. On this 



Spalding's Athletic Library 13 

depends balance and proper distribution 
of weight. 

I advise all girls to take one stroke at 
a time, as I did, and practice it diligently 
till they can make it with certainty. After 
practicing some particular stroke for sev- 
eral days, with what confidence you will 
be able to use it in a match or a tourna- 
ment. 

One stroke at a time is the only really 
thorough method of building up your 
game. 

In playing my backhand I sweep the 
ball, as it were, relying on swing, timing 
and follow-through to get pace rather 
than on hard hitting. A favorite shot of 
mine is a backhand drive down the line. 
For all backhand shots, whether drive or 
volley, I have my thumb down the back of 
the handle. This is clearly to be seen in 
the photographs of backhand shots. 



14 Spalding's Athletic Library 

For both forehand and backhand 
strokes I am careful to keep the racket in 
the vertical plane for the full delivery of 
the strokes. 

As the service is a strong part of my 
game, it will be well if I describe my 
method. 

I stand with the left foot in front, and 
sideways. I throw the ball up into the 
air about six feet and over the right 
shoulder, that is, on the right side of the 
head. At this moment the bust is inclined 
backwards, and with the handle of the 
racket gripped very tightly, the ball is 
hit very hard.. All the weight and swing 
of the body are put into the stroke and 
the ball is steered in the intended direc- 
tion. 

I act in an exactly similar way for the 
"smash," which is really a service from 
another part of the court. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 15 

As a chapter later on is devoted to tac- 
tics I need not say much here about my 
own tactics. 

In playing singles my first concern is 
to find out my opponent's chief weakness, 
and then her strong point. Having dis- 
covered this it is then only necessary to 
attack her weakness and prevent her play- 
ing her best strokes. Being a voUeyer, I 
get to the net as soon as I see a good open- 
ing. Thus, if in reply to my first, fast 
service my opponent sends a short return, 
I consider this a good opening. 

If I find an opponent equally good on 
both forehand and backhand, and driving 
a good length, I try to entice her to the 
net with a short ball in order to pass her 
down the sidelines or lob over her head. 

I must not dwell any more on my own 
game, or I shall anticipate too much what 
I wish to say in subsequent chapters. 



1 6 Spalding's A thletic Library 

Temperament plays a big part in tennis. 
Personally I never suffer from ''nerves." 
A big occasion and a big crowd of spec- 
tators stimulate me to play my best. 

I will conclude this chapter with a 
word or two about courts. 

Grass courts are practically unknown in 
France. All my tennis has been played 
on hard courts — gravel, sand, etc. So I 
was surprised, when I came to England, 
to find the grass courts so little different 
from those I had been accustomed to. 
They were not so fast, of course, and the 
ball did not come to one so quickly. For- 
tunately I am quick-footed, and this did 
not bother me. When the courts were at 
all wet, then one noticed the difference 
in bound, the ball not getting up high 
enough for the horizontal drive. 

It was then that those English players 
who could play the cut strokes gained an 
advantage. 




Beginning of forehand horizontal drive, 
how weight is on right foot 
(See page 32) 



Note 




Beginning of backhand drive 
(See page 36) 



Spalding's Athletic Library 17 



CHAPTER II 

EQUIPMENT 

As you cannot play without a racket, 
let us go at once to a first-class maker and 
choose a really good racket. 

A great deal of care is needed in se- 
lecting a racket. So many beginners and 
poor players sacrifice goodness to cheap- 
ness. This is the worst kind of economy. 

You will never become a good player 
or enjoy your tennis with a poor weapon. 
Much of the bad play of girls is caused 
by bad rackets, loosely strung, ill-bal- 
anced, with awkward handles and clumsy 
frames. 

A good racket gives confidence. Armed 
with it a player feels she can and must 
do it credit. It will never do for her to 
disgrace her good racket by bad play. 



18 Spalding's Athletic Library ' 

She is on her mettle, which is, of course, 
the right attitude. 

The first consideration is weight, which 
will vary according to the age of the 
player. I myself never use a heavier 
racket than 13^ ounces. 

After weight, balance. The evenly- 
balanced racket is best for all-round pur- 
poses. The usual balance is from 12^^ 
to 13^ inches, measuring from end of 
handle. An evenly-balanced racket will 
remain balanced ; if heavy in the head the 
head will sink, if light in the head the 
handle will sink. 

For volleying, service, and overhead 
strokes a light-headed racket is best. For 
driving and baseline play a racket with 
the weight in the head is best. I warn 
players against using too heavy a racket. 
It hampers their wrist play, and few girls 
have strong wrists. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 19 

Now for the size of the handle. The 
big handle has passed away, as extremes 
always do. A good average circumference 
is five inches. The great thing is to have a 
comfortable handle which the fingers can 
easily span. Too big a handle cramps the 
wrist and interferes with volleying and 
all deft shots. A big handle also upsets 
the balance of a racket. 

See that your racket is tightly strung 
with medium gut, not thin, nor thick. 
These are regulation terms, rackets being 
strung with gut of three thicknesses. By 
"tightly" I do not mean like a board. If 
you flick your nails sharply over the face 
of your racket and it gives a nice musical 
ring, you may assume that the strings are 
of the right tautness. 

Avoid a clumsy frame. The long, nar- 
row frame and the very wide frame are 
both to be avoided. You must strike the 
happy medium. 



20 Spalding's Athletic Library 

Many players use grips of various kinds 
on their handles. I never do. I am op- 
posed to a rubber grip, as it heats the 
hands and causes blisters. Many of the 
Colonial and some English players use 
surgical whipping; it gives a good grip. 
A well-shaped handle, sufficiently rough, 
is, in my opinion, best for all players ex- 
cept those with very dry hands. 

If your hands get damp in hot weather, 
and your racket slips, a pinch of sawdust, 
supplied at all tournaments, is the simple 
remedy. 

Some players use rosin, and certainly 
this gives a clinging grip. After all, 
it is largely a matter of individual taste, 
always providing that the artificial grip 
does not disturb the balance of the 
racket. 

If your handle gets too smooth and 
slippery, it is very simple to rough this 
with a file. 



■ Spalding's Athletic Library 21 

All-important is the care of the racket. 
Don't be worried if the strings slip out of 
place, as they often will. They will re- 
adjust themselves all right. But do be 
worried if your strings begin to fray or if 
the frame shows signs of warping. If the 
latter, put it into a frame and screw it up 
tightly. A warped racket can be pulled 
round; but you must never leave it out 
of its frame when not in use. A good way 
to treat a fraying string is to wind a piece 
of silk round the weakening spot. This 
may prove the stitch in time which saves 
a new string. Take extra care of your 
racket. 

When you have played in the rain, or 
on a wet court, do not rub your racket 
with a cloth. This will fray the strings. 
Dab it dry on either side and put it into 
its frame. 

This reminds me that if you play in 
matches and tournaments you want two 



22 Spalding's Athletic Library 

rackets, one for dry courts, and one for 
wet. Be sure they are both of the same 
build and weight. Be sure, too, to have 
your name clearly marked on handle. 

You cannot play good tennis with dirty 
balls. A little pains will always give you 
clean balls. You may wash them with 
soap and water and a nail-brush, you may 
rub them on cocoanut-matting, or you 
may brush them with a stiffish brush. 
But there is a better and simpler way, of 
which an English friend has told me. 
First of all dry the dirty balls; then rub 
them all over with dry pipe-clay, working 
it in with the hands, and finally brush all 
the pipe-clay off with a stiffish brush. The 
balls come up almost new. Necessarily 
the felt loses some of its nap, but at least 
the balls are clean. Never play with last 
season's balls ; they are soft and have lost 
their bound and will put you off when 
you come to play with good balls. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 23 

If you have a court of your own be sure 
that the lines are clearly marked. You 
can run these over in a few minutes with 
a marker, which can always be kept with 
whitening ready mixed in it. It is im- 
possible to play with pleasure or accuracy 
if the lines are faint. 

Be sure, too, that your net has a centre 
tape and that your net is of the right 
height — 3 feet at the center, 3 feet 6 
inches at the posts. This is all-important. 
Have a net gauge — a lath of wood 3 feet 
long. For playing singles posts 3 feet 6 
inches high should be placed in the 
ground 3 feet from the sidelines. 

You cannot be too particular about any 
of these details. 



24 Spalding's Athletic Library 



CHAPTER III 

ELEMENTS OF THE GAME, AND STYLE 

The greater part of this chapter is 
very much for beginners. But it would 
be no bad thing if the majority of 
players began all over again. There 
are many players who, had they only 
begun right, would now be in the front 
rank, instead of third-rate performers. 
Even now it is not too late to mend. But, 
alas! many a player is so foolish that she 
will not give up her bad, old way for a 
new and better. She will not unlearn and 
learn anew because during the transition- 
ary stage she will play worse than before. 
She will not endure this, not even for the 
sake of great future benefit. 

The Dohertys claimed that two things 
chiefly brought them success : 




Finishing backhand drive. Note the i' 
through to the full extent of arm 
(See page 37) 




Overhead service — back view 
(See page 58) 



Spalding's Athletic Library 25 

( 1 ) Keeping the eye on the ball till it 
hit the racket, or nearly so. 

(2) A good style. 

The former is possible to all. The lat- 
ter every one of us must try to acquire. 

The very first thing you must do is to 
grip your racket right. 

There is a great deal of idle talk about 
the "unchanging" grip. That is to say, 
one grip which does for both forehand 
and backhand. 

Mr. R. F. Doherty used this grip, and, 
as he was one of the great masters of the 
game, many players think they must use 
it too. For not more than one player in 
a hundred is this grip a natural or a 
comfortable one. Give up the idea at once 
that this grip is necessary. I have never 
used it. I always change the grip for the 
backhand. Players who use it are quite 
the exception. 



26 Spalding's Athletic Library 

Grip your racket naturally for the fore- 
hand stroke. Grip it in such a way that 
you could strike the hardest blow with the 
face of it. No forcing of the hand and 
wrist into some fixed position. Freedom 
and comfort are the test. If your grip 
does not give you these, then your grip 
is wrong. 

If you must have some definite guide, 
the ball of the thumb should fit over the 
facet of the handle, which is a continua- 
tion of the frame of the racket. That 
should give a good average grip. But no 
hard-and-fast rule can be laid down, for 
many good players, especially those who 
put lift and top-spin on the ball, grip 
more at the back, while many others bring 
the hand further forward. 

Very few girls grip right for the back- 
hand strokes. This is one reason why 
their backhand play is so weak. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 27 

The common mistake, and chief cause 
of weakness, is having the wrist in front 
of the racket pulling it, instead of behind, 
thrusting it. 

The backhand grip is not easily de- 
scribed on paper. Find out with what 
grip you can strike the hardest backhand 
blow; or try this plan: stretch your arm 
straight out in front of you with the palm 
of the hand down ; crook the elbow till the 
forearm is at right-angles to the upper 
arm; then place the racket, which is at 
right-angles to the ground, in the right 
hand. You will have the backhand grip, 
save in one important detail. Place the 
thumb down the back of the handle. 

Why? you may ask. Because it keeps 
racket, and so, ball, under better control. 
The thumb steers the ball and enables 
the player to place it with much greater 
accuracy and deftness. 



28 Spalding's Athletic Library 

Beginners are often troubled as to how 
they shall change the grip from forehand 
to backhand, and vice versa. 

If you rest the neck of the racket in 
your left hand you will find the change 
very easy. This is the ideal way to hold 
the racket when waiting for the ball. It 
makes for steadiness too. I often find that 
beginners hold the handle right at the end, 
adding, of course, to their difficulties. An 
inch below the leather, and lower down 
for a weak backhand, say, is a safe guide. 

Having learned the right grips you 
must now learn to hit the ball. 

As ground strokes are the subject of the 
next chapter, we will not here discuss the 
playing of any particular shot. 

Beginners always tend to get too near 
the ball, thus cramping their strokes and 
their style. You will never have a good 
style unless you keep well away from the 
ball, swing your racket well back and 



Spalding's Athletic Library 29 

follow through to the full extent of arm 
and racket. 

Be sure you are firmly on both feet 
when playing any shot. No girl who 
jumps about while playing a shot will 
ever be much good. 

Do not run backwards for shots; turn 
and run sideways. Never play any ground 
shots with your body square to the net. 
The sideways position of the body is 
right. 

Remember, your first aim is to hit the 
ball over the net, the second into the court. 
You will the more easily do this by 
keeping your eye on the ball till it hits 
your racket. If you would only make this 
a habit you would be surprised how easy 
tennis can be. 

Do not try to skim the net at first. A 
good length is far better than pace. The 
latter will come all in good time. A 
"good length" ball pitches within a foot 



30 Spalding's Athletic Library 

or two of the baseline. There are other 
^'good lengths"; a ball pitching just over 
the net is often a good length. 

Girls are imitative creatures and may 
greatly improve their style by watching, 
and then imitating, first-class players, 
though not, of course, their mannerisms. 

Attain a good style; it will make the 
game easier and pleasanter. Very few 
players with a bad style have ever become 
really great. 

Finally, take tennis seriously. It is pain- 
ful to see children "ragging" at tennis, 
treating it as a joke. Parents should for- 
bid this kind of thing. 

If a thing is worth doing at all, it is 
worth doing as well as you can. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 31 



CHAPTER IV 

GROUND STROKES 

What are ground strokes? some one 
is sure to ask. They are strokes made 
off a ball that has bounced. 

Let us begin with the forehand drive. 

This drive is of different kinds. 

Undoubtedly the best forehand drive is 
the horizontal drive, played, v^ith varia- 
tions. 

One advantage of this drive is that it 
saves time- — a most important considera- 
tion. The sooner you play the ball after 
it bounces the better. One of your aims 
must be to catch youx opponent out of 
position. The quicker you play the ball 
the more likely are you to do this. 

This drive is taken at the top of the 
bound, when at about the height of the 



32 Spalding's Athletic Library 

shoulder. You can understand the loss 
of time if the ball is allowed to drop to 
within a foot, or a couple of feet of the 
ground, as I noticed several ladies in Eng- 
land allowed it to. 

To play the horizontal drive success- 
fully, the arm must be fully extended, the 
ball taken at about, or a little below, the 
level of the shoulder, and hit with confi- 
dence, firmness and a full swing. 

Capt. Wilding, who had the best fore- 
hand drive I have ever seen, took the ball 
about the height of the waist. But it 
would not do for everyone to copy this. 

Now there are three distinct ways of 
applying the racket for this drive. 

You may hit the ball with a plain 
racket, that is a racket which meets the 
ball at right angles to the ground, and 
remains in that position through the 
stroke. There is no spin on the ball thus 
struck. 




Low backhand volley. Note the horizontal 
position of the racket 

(See page 43) 







Smashing — eyes on the ball 
(See page 61) 



Spalding's Athletic Library 33 

You may whip the ball up from be- 
hind, putting top-spin on the ball and 
thus causing the ball to spring forward 
on touching the ground. 

Or, thirdly, you may turn the racket 
slightly over the ball as you strike it. 

Remember this, that when you meet an 
opponent who uses the top-spin drive, you 
need to grip your racket very firmly and 
watch the ball closely. You must attack 
the ball boldly. If you do not the ball 
will fly all over the place. Though never 
seeing her play, I am told Miss May 
Sutton puts a tremendous amount of top- 
spin on her drive. 

I never use- to^p-spin myself, but hit the 
ball with a plain racket, and believe this is 
the best way. 

One trouble about the horizontal drive 
is that on a slow, wet court the ball does 
not get up the convenient height. Well, 
if the ball does not get up, you must get 



34 Spalding's Athletic Library 

down. In other words you must stoop, 
and for the rest you must do the best you 
can. If you have a head on your shoulders 
and any sort of gift for the game, you will 
rise superior to difficulties of this kind. 
In fact, difficulties are the test of ability. 

There is another way of treating a ball 
which rises to the height of the shoulder. 
You may cut it with your racket in a 
vertical position, almost after the manner 
of a service. This is a great shot with 
some players. It comes very fast off the 
racket. 

All important for the horizontal drive, 
and for the other two which I shall briefly 
describe in a moment, is the position of 
the feet. You will never make this drive 
well if you face the net. Your feet must 
be parallel to the cross-lines of the court, 
not the sidelines. To put it simply, you 
must stand sideways, with the left foot in 
advance of the right. 



Spalding s Athletic Library 35 

The underhand lift drive is out of date, 
except such, as I am told, is used by the 
Japanese, which demands a very power- 
ful wrist flick, but many players use a shot 
much like it. The bail is allowed to drop 
within a foot or two of the ground and the 
racket swung on to it with an upward 
blow, much after the manner of the ordi- 
nary underhand service. 

For the cut drive the racket ipasses 
under the ball from right to left, putting 
spin on it and causing it to break on 
pitching from left to right, that is, to the 
backhand of the opposing player. On 
wet courts, of which players usually get a 
good many in England, the cut drive is 
very effective, it keeps low and tends to 
shoot. It is also, owing to the spin on the 
ball, a very nasty drive to volley. 

One advantage to the player who uses 
the cut drive is that it is easier for her to 
play drop shots and lobs. 



36 Spalding's Athletic Library 

In France we make little, or no, use of 
cut shots. We believe in hitting the ball 
hard and clean with the full face of the 
racket. 

Now for the backhand drive, so diffi- 
cult to most girls. You know the grip. If 
not, refresh your memory by turning to 
Chapter II. 

As few girls could ever master a back- 
hand drive with topspin, I shall describe 
only the cut drive and the plain-hit drive. 

To take the latter first. • 

Get your feet right. The correct posi- 
tion of the feet is essential for the proper 
playing of the backhand. Right foot well 
in advance of left, and body in a sideways 
position to the net. Keep well away from 
the ball, take it about the height of the 
waist, slightly bend the right knee, and 
swing the racket well on to it and follow 
through to the full extent of arm and 
racket. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 2>7 

Remember that to get accuracy of di- 
rection you must send your racket after 
the ball, so to speak. Or, to put it differ- 
ently, you must follow through in the 
line of the flight of the ball. Test and 
prove it. 

Wrong body and feet position and 
wrong grip are chiefly the reasons why 
most girls play such a poor backhand 
shot. 

Be sure to keep the racket in a hori- 
zontal position. See that the head of the 
racket is not below the level of the wrist. 

The way for a beginner to learn the 
backhand stroke is to stab it. For this 
practically only wrist and forearm are 
used. Later the swing may be lengthened 
and finally full use made of the body. It is 
wonderful what power may be put into 
a backhand drive if the player expands 
her chest and throws back her shoulders 
at the moment of hitting the ball. 



38 Spalding's Athletic Library 

To drive backhand with cut, the racket 
passes under the ball from left to right. 
Many girls who play the top-spin drive 
forehand, employ this cut drive backhand. 
It seems very common in England. 

The lob is a ground stroke no player 
could do without. Unless accurately 
played it is a gift to your opponent. Lob 
high and deep, high enough to clear your 
opponent, deep enough to make her run 
out of court. 

A lob that pitches within a yard of the 
baseline is a good one, that pitches on the 
service line a bad one. 

Grip firmly, keep your eye on the ball, 
and play it with great care. Go out onto 
your court and practice lobbing, half-an- 
hour at a time. It will repay you. Mr. 
Roper Barrett, who is regarded in Eng- 
land as prince of lobbers, learned this 
way, so I am told. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 39 

Drop-shots are very useful against 
baseline players. They are risky, of 
course, and need a deft touch. They are 
best played with a cut. Remember that 
there is nothing mean about them, as 
many people imagine. They are a high 
form of skill, among the most delicate 
shots in the game. Mrs. Lambert Cham- 
bers often used this shot against me in the 
challenge round of the championship at 
Wimbledon. 



40 Spalding's Athletic Library 



CHAPTER V 

VOLLEY AND HALF-VOLLEY 
I FEEL very much at home in this chap- 
ter. My favorite place is at the net, and 
I get there on the first chance. I would 
encourage all girls to do the same. Ten- 
nis would seldom be dull if girls learned 
to volley. Nothing is more monotonous 
than a girls' double with all four players 
sticking to the back of the court. Those 
who teach the young tennis should insist 
on one player on each side being up at the 
net. 

The rising generation must be a race 
of volleyers. 

It is curious that while boys volley 
from the earliest age, girls invariably play 
from the back of the court. It amounts 
almost to a creed with some people that 




Beginning of forehand drive, as played by 
Mrs. Lambert Chambers 



(See page 32) 




Another finish of the forehand drive. According to 

orthodox ideas the weight is on the wrong foot 

(See page 37) 



Spalding's Athletic Library 41 

volleying is for men and boys, baseline 
play for women and girls. 

Girl volleyers are so rare as to create 
quite a sensation. 

Apart from any tradition in the matter, 
girls do not volley because they think 
volleying is difficult. I am going to try 
to persuade them here that it is easier than 
strokes off the ground. It is really a mat- 
ter of common sense. The ball may do 
so many different things after it bounces. 
It may get up high, it may keep low, or it 
may screw, or shoot or hang or take a for- 
ward leap. Then the player must calcu- 
late the best height at which to take the 
ball. The volley has none of these diffi- 
culties. You simply have to put your 
racket in the way of the ball, square to it. 
The racket and the ball will do the rest. 

Once get rid of the idea that the volley 
is difficult and you have overcome the 
chief difficulty of the volley. 



42 Spalding's Athletic Library 

Don't you all know how a girl when she 
is caught in the middle of the court and 
faced with a volley gets flurried, probably 
shrieks, and gives a wild hit at the ball, 
catching it as often as not on the frame of 
her racket? All so unnecessary. If she 
steadied herself, got her feet firmly on the 
ground, gripped her racket, kept her eye 
on the ball and let it hit her racket, the 
result would be very different. And all 
these things are quite simple to perform. 
She is not being asked to do anything 
difficult. 

You volley badly because you imagine 
you must hit the ball. If you get near 
enough to the net very little hitting will 
be necessary. 

Let me emphasize here that the worst 
possible place in the court for volleying 
is on the service line. The nearer you 
are to the net the better, especially when 
your partner is serving. There is no 



Spalding's Athletic Library 43 

definite distance, but anything from three 
feet to three yards is a good average dis- 
tance. 

In learning to volley hold the racket 
very firm. As you grow in confidence 
you will increase the swing and the power 
of your shot. The racket must be held 
square to the ground, that is at right 
angles to it. Wrists play a big part in 
volleying. 

It is important for both forehand and 
backhand volleying to keep the wrist so 
pressed down that the head of the racket 
is above it, or, at any rate, not below it. 
This holds good for low volleying, the 
stroke at which the Dohertys are said 
never to have had an equal. If you are 
to low volley well you must go down to 
the ball by bending knees and body. The 
low volley played with a hanging racket 
is not nearly so accurate. 



44 Spalding's Athletic Library 

Do not rush at a volley. Observe a 
really good volleyer and you will see that 
she steadies herself for the shot, and is, 
when she plays it firmly, on both feet. 
No girl who flings herself about in the act 
of hitting the ball will ever be much good. 

I firmly believe that the thumb should 
be down the handle for backhand driv- 
ing, and for volleying as well, though but 
few of the better male players use this 

grip. 

Many of you have never heard of such 
a grip before. I promise you a new en- 
joyment in the game if you will only 
try it. 

By getting near to the net, you volley 
rising balls instead of the dropping ones 
you would have to deal with further back 
in the court. Nothing is harder to volley 
than a dropping ball ; nothing easier than 
a rising one. When volleying the latter 



Spalding's Athletic Library 45 

be sure to volley downwards: near the 
net this is easy. Played from there it 
should always be an attacking stroke. 

Long rallies are not necessarily a sign 
of good tennis. It is your business to put 
an end to long rallies. The net is the best 
place for this. I have seen rallies go 
on till one's eyes ached with following 
the ball ; rallies which one of the players 
would have brought to a successful end 
after two or three exchanges by going up 
and volleying. 

And how watchful you need to be at the 
net! If in a double you must keep on 
your toes, ready for a dash across the net. 

In garden-party tennis you will no 
doubt be accused of poaching, but that is 
simply ignorance. In this kind of pat-ball 
tennis it is almost rude for a man to serve 
first! And it used to be the height of bad 
manners to trespass in your partner's 
court. 



46 Spalding's Athletic Library 

The net player, remember, has a free 
hand at the net. She can go across when- 
ever she likes. 

The "stop and draw" volleys are very 
useful to the net player. They drop the 
ball short over the net and are effective 
when the opponent is out of position at 
the back of the court. 

They must be played — the "draw" by 
cutting or drawing the racket across the 
ball, the "stop" by relaxing the grip, and 
as it were, withdrawing the racket from 
the ball, only much practice will enable 
you to play these volleys at all success- 
fully. It requires courage and confidence 
to use these and other drop shots in a 
match, because of the attendant risk. 

No volley is less played in lawn tennis 
than the "lob" volley. It is one of the 
most difficult strokes to execute, and re- 
quires the utmost precision, and must be 
done, as it were, on the spur of the mo- 



Spalding's Athletic Library A7 

ment. It is generally played with back- 
spin on it to keep the ball in court. 

It is most generally used in doubles 
play when all four players are at the net. 
After a series of short exchanges at the 
net, a ^^lob" volley is apt to take one's 
opponents by surprise. It has the effect, 
if of the right length and height, of driv- 
ing them back and giving the other side 
sole possession of the net, which is what 
they most want. 

This volley is very seldom seen in ladies' 
doubles, for the simple reason that all four 
players are rarely up at the net together. 
Even so, it might often be used with ad- 
vantage instead of the usual hit down the 
court. The player at the net would some- 
times be wiser to lob volley the opposing 
net player than to return the ball to the 
player at the back of the court. 

As overhead volleys are for the next 
chapter, I will pass on to a stroke which 



48 Spalding's Athletic Library 

is between a volley and a ground stroke, 
namely, the half-volley. 

For the benefit of beginners I had bet- 
ter define this. A half-volley is played 
when the ball is struck directly after it 
hits the ground. English boys will recog- 
nize it as the same thing as the drop-kick 
at Rugby football. Also they will recog- 
nize it as a cricket term. 

The secret of playing the half-volley 
is to keep your eye on the ball. The stroke 
is as easy again if this is really done. 

Have you ever seen Mr. Caridia, one 
of the famous English players, play? He 
makes the half-volley look a very simple 
stroke. In fact, it is his chief stroke. He 
attacks with it and defends with it; it is 
almost his whole game. I played several 
practice games with him at Wimbledon 
and can write of his half-volley from 
personal knowledge. 




Forehand cut drive or underhand service, as plaved 

by Mrs. Larcombe 

(See page 35) 




Backhand cut drive, as played by Mrs. Larcombe 
(See page 36) 



Spalding's Athletic Library 49 

When a girl has played a half-volley 
ten to one she regards it either as a fluke 
or as a very wonderful performance. It 
need not be the former and it certainly is 
not the latter. 

If a volley is not possible and you can- 
not get back for a comfortable drive then 
you must try for a half-volley. • Steady 
yourself for it, look down at the ball and 
do not lift your head. 

Do not play the half-volley with a 
hanging racket — though sometimes that 
cannot be avoided — but try to get the 
racket as near as possible to the hori- 
zontal. Of course you will need to stoop 
for this stroke. 

Mr. William Johnston, the American 
champion, is a past master of the half- 
volley on attack, as is also, I have heard, 
the internationalist, Mr. F. B. Alexander. 
The half-volley is chiefly an emergency, 
or, at any rate, defensive stroke. Mr. 



so Spalding's Athletic Library 

Norman Brookes often returns smashes 
by means of the half-volley with great 
ease and without any hurry. 

You may observe one thing about all 
the best players of the half-volley. They 
pick it up with a very quick action. 
Another thing they do when using it for 
attack is to turn the racket over the ball, 
somewhat, when hitting it. 

It is a very pretty stroke, especially on 
the backhand, and well worth learning. 

The volleyer must, of course, be sure of 
it, for she will frequently have balls drop- 
ping just where a half-volley is the only 
stroke she can use. 

Some, perhaps, will say that the half- 
volley is too difficult for beginners. But 
you hope to be something more than 
beginners soon. And you can easily leave 
the study of the half-volley till you have 
learned the more simple strokes of the 
game. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 51 



CHAPTER VI 

SERVICE AND OVERHEAD PLAY 

So many young players think of the 
service merely as the means of starting 
the game. They do not regard it as a 
weapon of attack at all. And yet it can 
be, should be, indeed, and often is, the 
chief attacking force in a player's game. 

Realizing this, the young Colonial 
players make service the chief feature 
of their game. The American, Mr. 
McLoughlin, made his great reputation 
chiefly on his service. So has Mr. Patter- 
son, the Australian. And many others 
owe their success mainly to their service. 

If you can devise a service which will 
win you points outright you will, of 
course, greatly strengthen your game. 



52 Spalding's Athletic Library 

But I am quite sure girls could learn to 
serve a great deal better than they do. 

Which shall a girl use — the overhead or 
the underhand service? To use the over- 
head service for the sake of using it is 
silly. 

Many girls serve overhead because they 
think it looks well. That is a poor reason. 
They cannot volley, cannot smash, and 
play entirely from the back of the court. 
And yet they serve overhead — a stroke 
they never use during the rest of the game. 

Most first-class ladies serve overhead, 
though Mrs. Larcombe, an ex-champion, 
serves underhand. Certainly it may be 
said that an underhand service is no bar 
to success. 

If you are a baseline r'.s- rr with no 
ability to volley or smasl / ? - iculd serve 
underhand, and your service should be as 
like as possible to your forehand ground 
shot. 



■ Spalding's Athletic Library 53 

As you are allowed two serves, you may 
take any risks you like with the first. But 
if you find you are never getting your 
first fast service in, do not go on blazing 
away with it. Try a medium one. Better 
ten medium ones than one fast one and 
nine soft ones which an opponent can do 
anything she likes with. Many girls who 
serve underhand stand far behind the 
baseline. It does not seem to strike them 
that the further they stand from the net, 
the slower the ball when it reaches their 
opponent. By toeing the baseline they 
could serve just as fast and save them- 
selves a good deal of energy, and by using 
the same amount of energy could, of 
course, serve proportionately faster. Their 
reason for standing far back is that they 
serve fewer faults. Practice and perse- 
verance would soon enable them to serve 
Just as accurately from the baseline. 



54 Spalding's Athletic Library 

The trouble with girls nowadays is 
that they will play games every time 
they go to the courts, instead of practicing 
strokes. 

If you would only take a stroke at a 
time and practice, practice, practice it, 
you would build up a sound game and be 
sure of success. 

Supposing those of you who serve un- 
derhand decide that you will practice 
serving, what are you to strive for? 

First of all you must strike for a good 
length. You must try to serve within a 
foot of the service line. Then you must 
vary the direction of the service, serving 
sometimes down the middle line, some- 
times into the opposite corner. Then try 
a short one, dropped just over the net 
with enough cut on it to keep it low. 
Then try serving from different parts of 
the baseline. You are not bound to serve 
from one particular spot. To practice 



Spalding's Athletic Library 55 

these things will give you confidence when 
you come to play in a game or match. 
You can experiment upon your opponents, 
but with the comfortable feeling that it is 
not really an experiment for you. You 
have tried it before. 

Use your wits when serving. Find out 
the weakness of your opponent. Is she 
weak on her backhand? then serve to that. 
A cut service to a weak backhand on a wet 
court is very deadly. 

Coming to the overhead service: it 
must be pretty clear that if you can throw 
a cricket ball after a boy's and not a girl's 
fashion, you ought to be able to serve over- 
head. 

As cricket is fairly generally taught at 
girls' schools, most English girls know 
how to throw, and throwing is just the 
action of serving. If you wish to be a 
volleyer, you should certainly learn to 



S 6 Spalding's A thletic Library 

serve overhead, as it will make smashing 
easier for you. 

No two players serve just alike, but 
there are certain general principles which 
you must observe. 

Take up your position behind the base- 
line, with your left toe a few inches be- 
hind it, and well in advance of the right 
foot, and your body sideways. You will 
never serve with much power if you stand 
too square to the net. 

For the beginning of the service the 
body is arched back, the right shoulder 
pressed back and down, the wrist kept 
loose, and the racket allowed to drop be- 
hind the back. 

You will see all this well illustrated by 
almost any of the first-class men, and by 
such players as Mrs. Lambert Chambers, 
while the photographs of myself serving 
clearly show this. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 57 

The throw-up of the ball is most im- 
portant. The height to which it should 
be thrown troubles many players. Some 
do not throw it high enough; some few 
too high. The latter are generally both- 
ered by a wind. 

I think it is well to try to serve as cor- 
rectly as possible from the start; and not 
begin, as some advise, by merely patting 
the ball over the net, or you may fall into 
a bad habit. 

The ball should be thrown up slightly 
to the right of the head to the height of 
about six feet or a little less. 

Practice throwing up the ball. On the 
accuracy of this depends the success of 
the service. I do not recommend the be- 
ginner to carry three balls in her hand. 

As soon as the ball is at the required 
height, the racket is swung up and over 
the right shoulder. Without proper tim- 



58 Spalding's Athletic Library 

ing the service will not be a good one. 
But timing cannot be taught on paper. 

The importance of the follow through 
cannot be exaggerated. In a correct fol- 
low through the racket finishes past the 
left knee, or, in the case of some players, 
past the right. 

After deciding where she will place her 
service, the player must look at nothing 
but the ball till she has struck it. To try 
to look at two things at once, at the ball 
and where she means to place it, results 
in failure. 

Length and placing are just as import- 
ant, of course, as in underhand service. 
It is certainly easier to place an overhead 
service accurately. Some authorities claim 
that greater accuracy is given by having 
the first finger somewhat up the racket. 

The Americans introduced a service 
which has since been called ^^American." 
The special feature of it is its big break. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 59 

As you will often meet this — if you play 
in tournaments — it will be well if I de- 
scribe it here and give you a few tips as 
to how you should play it. 

Meeting it for the first time and know- 
ing nothing of its peculiarities, you will 
be terribly puzzled by it. But if you take 
note of what follows you will at least be 
able to make an intelligent attempt to 
play it. 

This service is of two kinds : the ''ordi- 
nary" American and the "reverse" Ameri- 
can. In the ''ordinary/' the server's racket 
crosses the ball from left to right; in the 
reverse, from right to left. A little 
thought will make it quite clear that in the 
"ordinary" the ball is spinning from left 
to right and on pitching will break to the 
right, that is to the backhand of the player 
receiving the service. The "reverse" is 
just the other way and breaks to the fore- 
hand. Remember this: the ball always 



60 Spalding's Athletic Library 

breaks the way the racket goes, or in more 
usual terms, "breaks with the racket.^' 

So you can always tell which way the 
ball will break. If the server's racket 
goes from left (his) to right, the ball will 
break from left to right — that is, to your 
backhand. If his racket crosses his face 
from right to left, the ball will break that 
way — that is to your forehand. 

Now you will know what to expect. 

As the American service has much spin 
on it you need to grip your racket very 
firmly and hit the ball boldly. A half- 
hearted hit will meet with failure. 

This next point is most important. As 
the ordinary American service is spinning 
from left to right, it tends to go on in that 
direction off the racket. Returning it out 
of the left court with your backhand, you 
will need to aim well inside the sideline if 
you are to keep the ball in. That is the 
experience of every one who has met this 



Spalding's Athletic Library 61 

service. After all it is a matter of com- 
mon sense and spin. 

The reverse service tends to fly off the 
racket the other way. Therefore you must 
aim to the left of the spot you want to 
send the ball to. 

I am not going to advise girls to learn 
how to serve the American service, though 
this will no doubt come in time. Miss 
Ryan serves a sort of reverse American, 
or rather, perhaps, reverse cut. Possibly 
the American service would be too exact- 
ing for girls, and few of them would have 
strong enough wrists. But no doubt if 
they began early enough they would pick 
it up all right. 

As overhead play is included in this 
chapter, I must refer to the "smash." 
This, when on the forehand, is similar to 
the service, and must be played in the 
same way. Few girls play it well. They 
hit wildly at the ball and take their eye off 



62 Spalding's Athletic Library 

it, and do not get far enough under it. 
The ball should be rather behind the 
player's head than in front of it, except, of 
course, in the case of an easy ball near 
the net. 

There are quiet smashes as well as hard 
ones, though many players seem to think 
there are only the latter. Games without 
number are lost by players slamming at 
an overhead ball instead of quietly plac- 
ing it out of their opponent's reach. 

The backhand smash is much more dif- 
ficult. Thumb down is essential to this 
stroke. I have found it very useful in 
doubles play. 

One is often called upon to play a volley 
just about the height of the head. This 
is played with a vertical racket, some- 
times as a chop stroke, at others as a push 
stroke. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 63 



CHAPTER VII 

TACTICS 

It is necessary to assume now that you 
can make the different strokes of the game 
with some degree of ease and accuracy. 
Until you can do this it is, of course, 
absurd to talk of tactics. Only when you 
can control the ball and make it do more 
or less what you want it to do can you 
employ tactics. 

Tactics are, as it were, the brains of 
the game — the devices by which you out- 
wit your opponent. 

I wish every girl had the opportunity 
'of watching, say, Mrs. Lambert Chambers 
play. Many players keep banging the ball 
over the net with the hope that sooner or 
later their opponent will miss it. Every 
shot Mrs. Chambers plays has a definite 



64 Spalding's Athletic Library 

purpose. To get your opponent out of 
position to one side of the court, and then 
place the ball out of her reach in the 
other; to draw your opponent up to the 
net and then play a quick low lob to the 
baseline ; to keep the ball away from your 
opponent's pet stroke and hammer her 
weak; to drive your opponent beyond the 
baseline and then drop a short one just 
over the net: these and many others are 
the tactics you must employ. 

And another thing one observes about 
Mrs. Chambers is her patience. She is 
never in a hurry. Impetuous young play- 
ers want to score a winner the very first 
shot. Mrs. Chambers keeps on and on 
playing for the opening which is sure to 
come. I take Mrs. Chambers, not be- 
cause she is the only tactician, but because 
of the personal experience I have had of 
her tactics. I have never played against 
a lady so quick to seize openings. 








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Spalding's Athletic Library 65 

The tactics in singles and doubles will 
be different. 

Take singles first. 

Supposing you are playing in a tourna- 
ment, tactics begin with the spin of the 
racket. ''Rough" you call and win. What 
advantage is this? In tournaments, you 
know, you change courts after the first 
game and every succeeding odd game. If 
you win the toss you will choose either 
service or the worst end. If you have a 
strong service elect to serve. If you have 
a weak service elect to play the first game 
against the sun or wind or bad back- 
ground, or whatever it is that makes one 
court worse than the other. 

In singles you should stand as near as 
possible to the middle of the baseline and 
serve down the middle line. If a baseline 
player you will retreat behind the base- 
line after serving, further on a fast than a 
slow court. Keep on your toes, ready to 



66 Spalding's Athletic Library 

spring forward, or to dart this way or 
that. Remember that it is easier to run 
forward than back, therefore the import- 
ance of keeping well back. 

So many girls stand in the most difficult 
place in court, midway between base and 
service lines. 

Where you must stand when receiving 
the service largely depends on the kind of 
service. If fast, you need to stand almost 
on the baseline; if slow, half-way between 
base and service lines. 

In returning the service do not always 
try for a winning shot at once. Play the 
return of service down the line. Do not 
try for pace, but for a good length. This 
will drive your opponent well back and 
enable you to get to the net. 

To discover your opponent's weakness 
is the first step to successful tactics. And 
it must soon become obvious to any one 
with eyes what a player's chief weakness 



Spalding's Athletic Library 67 

is. Most players are stronger on the fore- 
hand than backhand. That means you 
must attack chiefly the backhand of such 
players. This is definite and simple 
enough. You have got to keep on playing 
the ball to your opponent's backhand un- 
til she breaks down or until she returns 
a short easy ball which you can kill or 
quickly put beyond her reach. Be warned, 
however, for there is such a thing as giv- 
ing your opponent's weak stroke so much 
practice that it becomes strong. If you 
see this is happening, change suddenly 
and place the ball to her forehand. 

Do not forget that two can play at tac- 
tics. And an important part of tactics 
is to discover what are your opponent's 
tactics. 

For example: a player with a strong 
forehand drive will tempt you to feed this 
stroke by leaving her forehand court open. 
Well, you are not to be tempted. Keep 



68 Spalding's Athletic Library 

on playing the ball well into her left 
court. And sooner or later in her desire 
to get in a forehand shot she will leave 
the right court too open. Then is your 
chance to slip the ball past her into the 
right-hand corner of her court. 

How often does the young player think 
of lobbing in the middle of a long rally 
to rest herself? By lobbing, a player can 
recover her breath and her position. 

When your opponent is in an attacking 
position at the net and you are at the back 
of the court you have one of two courses 
open to you. Either you can try to pass 
her, or you may lob over her head. The 
latter is the safer, but it does not neces- 
sarily win you the point. The passing 
shot is risky, but, if successfully played, 
wins you the point. You should copy the 
example of Mrs. Chambers when trying 
to pass an opponent at the net. After 
making up her mind where to place the 



Spalding's Athletic Library 69 

ball, and looking once in that direction, 

she keeps her eye on the ball and ignores 

the player at the net. 
If you worry too much about the player 

at the net you are certain to look at her 
more than at the ball. If so you will play 

into her hands. 

Girls who wish to be net players must 
not think they can get to the net directly 
they have returned the service; they must 
not go up to the net on every ball. It 
would be folly to go up, for example, on 
a ball pitching on the service line. Any 
ordinary player could pass you if you did. 
On the other hand, you may safely go up 
on a hard drive to the middle, between 
service and base lines. It is very difBcult 
for an opponent to pass you from there. 

When you get to the net you will be 
worse off than further back, unless you 
know how to cross volley or stop volley. 



70 Spalding's A tli Icfic L ibrary 

You must be ready to change your tac- 
tics. If you are a baseliner against a base- 
liner, try running in to the net now and 
then and see if this will put your opponent 
off. If it flusters her continue these tac- 
tics. 

Vary your tactics when you are 40/15, 
or wanting an ace for the set or match. 
Serve from a different part of the court. 
Lob if you have been driving; drive hard 
if you have been lobbing. If at this stage 
you get an easy overhead ball at the net, 
kill it! Countless matches and champion- 
ships have been lost because players were 
too timid to take risks when within an ace 
of victory. Then a bold policy is nearly 
always the best. It was by taking risks 
that I won the championship at Wimble- 
don. When the score was 7 all in the 
final set I hit hard to Mrs. Chambers's 
backhand and ran in, winning the next 
two games. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 71 

When leading 40/15 you can afford to 
take risks, and, for example, serve your 
second service as fast as your first. 

Never abandon hope or effort. If it is 
5 love and 40/15 against you, hope and 
strive. Many matches and championships 
have been won from a position so seem- 
ingly hopeless. Nothing so demoralizes 
a player as the gradual dwindling away of 
a long lead. 

Attack is usually the best kind of de- 
fence, but defensive tactics are sometimes 
the only means of winning. The other 
player gets the attack in her hands and you 
are compelled to defend. You keep on 
getting everything back. She makes more 
mistakes with her vigorous attack than 
you do, and in the end you win. That is 
a fairly common story. 

Ladies' doubles are a most enjoyable 
form of the game if one on either side is 
at the net. 



72 Spalding's Athletic Library 

Tactics consist mainly of keeping the 
ball away from the player at the net and 
intercepting the ball at the net. The 
combination for doubles, usually re- 
garded as ideal, is a good driver and a 
good volleyer. The volleyer stands at the 
net when her partner is serving. When 
the volleyer is serving the latter stands 
back and the volleyer runs in on her 
service. There is room here for some 
variety. But the best combination is that 
of two volleyers who are able also to drive 
when obliged to do so. The final of the 
ladies' doubles at Wimbledon is the best 
proof of this. 

In mixed doubles, too, I always play at 
the net. It is far more enjoyable than the 
back-and-front combination. 

"Where am I to stand when my partner 
is receiving the service?" often asks the 
volleyer. Unless she is an exceptionally 
strong driver, and the net player on the 



Spalding's Athletic Library 73 

other side slow to run across, she should 
stand level with her partner. Otherwise 
she will frequently get the ball smashed 
and volleyed at her feet. 

The lob and the passing shot are the 
chief means by which the baseline mem- 
ber scores. When she lobs short her part- 
ner must run back and join her. To stay 
up is foolish. 

When both players happen to be at the 
net they must be level. 

Do not keep on peppering one player 
in a double; put the ball at her partner 
occasionally and you may find her unpre- 
pared. Always, of course, play more to 
the weaker player. 

The most effective lob in ladies' doubles 
is over the head of the opposing net 
player, when she is in the left court, into 
the extreme corner of that court. This 
means a long backhand shot for her 
partner. 



74 Spalding's Athletic Library 

The more usual way in mixed doubles, 
but not, I am convinced, the best, is for 
the lady to play at the back. This is the 
back-and-front combination of ladies' 
doubles. The tactics for the two are much 
the same. The lady, unless she has a 
very strong and her partner a very weak 
backhand, should play in the right court. 

When your partner runs into your court 
be prepared to cross into his. There is a 
great deal of changing courts in doubles. 
If both players are in one court and the 
ball is played into the other you are not 
combining properly, and the fault is prob- 
ably yours. Let your partner deal with 
overhead balls and don't accuse him of 
poaching if he is trying to cut in and kill 
at the net. He is there for that. Above 
all things avoid hitting at the man at the 
net. 



\ 



Spalding's Athletic Library 75 



CHAPTER VIII 

TOURNAMENT TENNIS 

There is no more enjoyable holiday 
than a round of tournaments. The play, 
with all its excitements, hopes, fears, joys, 
disappointments, the many social aspects, 
the long days in the fresh summer air, and 
the many delightful friendships make of 
the tournament an earthly paradise. 

The ambition of every girl who plays 
tennis should be to compete in one. Her 
first tournament will never be her last! 

Many tournaments have special events 
for girls and boys. This is as it should be. 

Tournaments, as you will soon discover 
for yourselves, are very different from 
friendly games. Players are out to win. 
No mercy is shown. You feel nervous 
and self-conscious; you cannot do your- 



76 Spalding's Athletic Library 

self justice; you were inclined to fancy 
yourself a little, even to imagine secretly 
that you might win. After being knocked 
out in the first round by some one you 
thought you might beat, you feel discour- 
aged and spiritless. 

If that is your experience you share it 
with thousands of others. It is all a very 
wholesome part of tournament discipline. 
Your opportunity will come all in good 
time. 

Never be either unduly cast down or 
unduly lifted up by your early experi- 
ences of tournament tennis. 

My advice to young players is to enter 
for every event. This is the way to gain 
experience and practice. 

When drawn against a first-class player 
in open singles, go out for your shot. 
Never on any account scratch to a good 
player. It is robbing yourself of useful 
experience, and her of needed practice. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 77 

You mean it for modesty, but your 
opponent, if one of the right sort, will 
tell you that it is a mistake. 

In handicaps singles you will at first 
receive a long start. Your best chance 
of winning is to play a bold game. Take 
risks, especially against players giving you 
a big start. Remember that when receiv- 
ing odds you take risks, giving them you 
play steady. 

Concentrate on the game. Do not look 
round at the crowd ; and do not imagine 
that the crowd are looking at you. 

It is well to have a few practice hits 
before beginning a match. But do not 
overdo this. 

Accept the umpire's decisions, however 
wrong they may seem to you, without any 
sign of disagreement. The umpire is in 
the best possible position for seeing all 
the lines, and you are just as likely — more 
likely — to be wrong than he is. Quite 



7S Spalding's Athletic Library 

apart from that it is bad form to grumble 
at umpires' decisions. In fact, all kinds 
of grumbling and excuses are bad form. 

Another bit of advice — be punctual. 
This helps the management. You are 
not the only player in the tournament. 
Unpunctuality affects others. Players are 
sometimes '^scratched" because they are 
not on hand when wanted. Possibly they 
thought, or hoped, they would not be 
wanted and took the risk of being late. 
The unexpected happens, and to their 
chagrin they find themselves out of the 
event. 

Referees are very good in obliging com- 
petitors wherever they can, but they are 
rightly down on careless unpunctuality. 
Keep on the right side of the referee. 
Study him and he will study you. He 
wields great power, and has as long a 
memory for unselfish and considerate 



Spalding's Athletic Library 79 

competitors as he has for selfish and in- 
considerate ones. 

And tournaments do bring out charac- 
ter. If you want to be thought well of^ 
always be glad to umpire when asked. 
Otherwise you may find it hard to get um- 
pires for your own matches. 

It is different when you become a 
"crack" and wish to be at your best in 
the finals. Umpiring is tiring for the 
eyes, and, coming just before your own 
matches, bad for your play. 

Your duties as an umpire, after seeing 
that the net is the right height, are to 
judge whether balls are in or oiKt, to de- 
cide "lets," and to call the score. And you 
may as well call the state of the game in 
the right way. Here is an example : "3 
games to i, Miss Blank leads in the second 
set; first set to Miss Blank." And do call 
the score loud enough for spectators in- 
terested in the game to hear it. 



80 Spalding's Athletic Library 

It will be useful to give a few hints of 
a common sense nature with regard to 
diet and training and physical care. 

You must have a good warm ulster coat 
of some kind. A white or colored blanket 
coat is best and most usual. After getting 
hot it is a great comfort and safeguard to 
get into this. It is foolish to sit about after 
a heated match without a wrap of any 
sort. 

In cold weather it is well to start in a 
jersey or '^sweater." You can never play 
your best if cold. 

Girls might copy men more in this and 
other respects. Men think so much of 
physical fitness that many of the leading 
players are carefully massaged before im- 
portant matches in the championship. I 
am not, of course, hinting that this is nec- 
essary for every one, but I do think girls 
should take more care of themselves than 
they do. 



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Spalding's Athletic Library 81 

Personally I keep myself fit by daily 
exercises, as I have previously stated in 
Chapter I. 

If you want to do your best at tourna- 
ments do not dance till the small hours 
of the morning, nor eat the richest pastries 
provided at the tournament teas. 

If you are thirsty during the course of 
a match be content with cold water, or, 
better still, nothing. 

Let me say in conclusion — never brood 
over your matches. Many nervous, imag- 
inative, and highly strung players play 
their matches over many times in advance. 
At night they think about them instead of 
going to sleep. Accordingly, they are 
tired out long before the end of the tour- 
nament and fail to play up to form. 

Do not discuss tennis too much during 
the course of a tournament, and especially 
avoid talking about your coming matches. 
It is unnerving. 



82 Spalding's Athletic Library 



CHAPTER IX 

COMMON FAULTS AND MISCELLANEOUS 
HINTS 

Running round the ball is a very com- 
mon fault with girls. Strong on her fore- 
hand a girl will manoeuvre to get her 
forehand to every shot. She will run 
round the ball instead of remaining where 
she is and taking it with her backhand. 

Two evils result from this. Her back- 
hand is deprived of the practice which 
would strengthen it; she gets herself out 
of position. 

Strengthen your weak shots, is the ad- 
vice for all players. 

Another very common fault with girls 
is to play their shots across the body. By 
this I mean they play with the body facing 
the net instead of sideways to it. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 83 

It is impossible to play a backhand like 
this. The racket cannot be taken back; 
there can be no swing; and the feet are 
in a hopeless position. It does not cramp 
the forehand so much, for the arm is free 
of the body. 

An almost universal failing of girls is 
not being able to see when there is spin 
on the ball, or of what kind. 

To every man and boy it is obvious that 
a ball hit in a certain way will have a cer- 
tain kind of spin on it. Thus, a half- 
volley will nearly always have back-spin. 
That is to say, it will hang or break back 
towards the net after pitching. A man 
can tell by the way the ball is spinning 
what it will do on pitching. But girls do 
not seem to understand this, and accord- 
ingly are much at sea with all spinning 
balls. 

No doubt it is due to lack of training 
in ball games. But this excuse will not 



84 Spalding's Athletic Library 

hold good much longer, for girls are now 
scientifically coached in all ball games. 

Attempting to drive hard from near the 
net is a fault which loses girls many 
points. It is almost impossible to drive 
hard a ball which pitches near the net and 
does not rise above it. The ball if it 
crosses the net must go out, unless a great 
deal of top-spin is put on it, and com- 
paratively few young players understand 
how to impart top-spin to the ball. 

Do not get too near the ball when driv- 
ing. You must keep well away from it. 
Keep it at arm^s length. Watch any of 
the best drivers and you will observe how 
they keep away from the ball. I have my 
arm quite straight when driving. Many 
good players bend the elbow slightly, but 
I believe it would be better if they did 
not. 

By getting too near the ball you cramp 
your shot, often get the ball on the splice 



Spalding's Athletic Library 85 

of the racket, and, of course, lose power. 
Then it is hard to keep your eye on the 
ball. 

This getting too near the ball is a very 
common failing. 

So is rushing at the ball. You may run 
as hard as you like to get to the ball, but 
you must steady yourself for the actual 
shot. 

When you dash in at a short ball, and 
by a great effort just reach it, it is a pity 
to waste this effort by hitting it out. Your 
impetus, unless you counteract this by a 
restrained hit, will cause you to hit the 
ball too hard. This is a very common ex- 
perience. 

If you hit the net with your racket when 
making a shot, or if the net touches any 
part of you, the point goes against you. 

Inexperienced players will catch a ball 
which is palpably out, with hand or 
racket. 



86 Spalding's A fJi lefic L ihrary 

If you do this in a tournament you lose 
the point. The ball is in play until it 
strikes the ground outside the court. In 
a very high wind a ball which had gone 
well outside the court is sometimes blown 
into court again. Make a habit in prac- 
tice games of always letting a ball which 
is out drop to the ground. 

You may not stretch your racket over 
the net to play a ball. You must wait till 
the ball is on your side of the net before 
playing it. But it is not against you if 
having hit the ball, on your own side of 
the net, your racket finishes the other side. 

Ignorant players are surprised when an 
umpire disallows a stroke which has 
scooped or shovelled the ball over the net. 
The stroke is an unfair one because the 
ball has been hit more than once. 

Have I told you how necessary it is for 
you to keep on your toes all the while? 
Runners who wish to get a good start 



Spalding's Athletic Library 87 

would never dream of standing on the flat 
of their feet. 

Be careful not to make foot-faults. If 
either foot touches or crosses the line be- 
fore the ball has left the racket, or, if 
both feet are off the ground, in fact, if you 
jump when the ball is being hit, or if you 
take a walking or running start you are 
guilty of a foot-fault. 

Use your head. Place your shots. Do 
not hit wildly. Three hints which every 
one can appreciate and anyone obey. 
There is a great difference between hit- 
ting '^wildly" and hitting hard. 

If you are a back-of-the-court player 
and find yourself on the service-line after 
playing a shot, with no time to get back 
to the baseline, go on up to the net. It 
is up or back in tennis. There is no mid- 
dle course. 

In mixed doubles your partner should 
serve first, unless you are the better server. 



88 Spalding's Athletic Library 

And the better server should have the 
choice of ends. It is ridiculous for a girl 
who serves, possibly underhand, to accept 
the better end, with the sun at her back — 
politely offered by her partner — and make 
him serve with the sun in his eyes. The 
stronger player should be given every 
advantage. There is no such thing in ten- 
nis as "ladies first." You must do your 
best to win and use every lawful means 
for doing so. 

If you read my little book, with a de- 
termination to carry out its instructions, 
and study the photographs carefully, you 
should greatly improve your game and 
enjoy your tennis more. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 89 



CHAPTER X 

THE EVOLUTION OF LADIES' PLAY 

The following chapter was not written 
by Mile. Lenglen, but is so intimately as- 
sociated with the subject of her book that 
it is reproduced on account of its instruct- 
ive value. The writer, Mrs. Larcombe, 
will be recognized as a former British 
lady champion, and therefore well quali- 
fied to present her views. 

As the introduction shows, this letter 
appeared in the Field, of London, the 
foremost authority on British sport and 
all topics connected with the realm of the 
out-of-doors. 

Mrs. Larcombe writes : 

Sir — The fact, noted in the Field re- 
cently that several years ago there were as 
many good volleyers as base-liners, is a 



90 Spalding's Athletic Library • 

timely reminder that the volley (in wom- 
en's tennis) is no modern asset. We be- 
lieve casually that the game becomes 
harder, and that more is demanded of its 
votaries as time goes on. Then we are 
brought up suddenly against a wall of 
hard fact such as that and compelled to 
think. Has the game improved? Or is 
it only that lawn tennis itself is more 
popular and the standard of the average 
player considerably higher? I am in- 
clined to think that is nearer the truth, and 
that perhaps the spread of tournaments 
is to be both praised and blamed for this 
result. Competitions afford the average 
player a chance of improvement through 
meeting good opponents, but the better 
player is apt to go right through the tour- 
nament season without the desire for im- 
provement and with the desire never to be 
beaten. She has no time to cultivate other 
strokes, no time to learn volleying. If 



Spalding's Athletic Library 91 

she did so she might be beaten by some- 
one considered below her form! 

I fancy something of the spirit of the 
game has been lost in this way. There is 
less pleasure in the game and more in the 
victory than is compatible with true sport. 
That is why I do not like to see the Field 
attribute Mrs. Chambers' surrender of 
her base-line position solely to the efficacy 
of the volley. It means, surely, a great 
deal more than that. Mrs. Chambers' 
views are wide — she does not concern her- 
self only with the winning of a match. 
For one thing there is the enjoyment of 
it to be considered. Mrs. Chambers has 
known the value of the volley for years, 
and, paradoxical as it may sound, she 
would have been a volleyer long ago but 
for the fact that she was a superb base- 
liner. She has been supreme at her own 
game, consequently she has enjoyed play- 
ing it and seen no particular need of any 



92 Spalding's Athletic Library 

change in her methods. That change, to 
my mind, may be attributed to her sense 
of pleasure in the game and her thought 
for the future as well as to her knowledge 
that volleying pays. An essential quality 
for a base-liner is fleetness of foot. That 
is one of the first things to disappear as 
one gradually, or suddenly, joins the Old 
Brigade. To the volleyer fleetness of foot, 
although valuable, is not as necessary. 
Lack of it can be covered by knowledge 
and anticipation. 

So the two possibilities of greater en- 
joyment in the game and a longer term 
of good play are at least as important as 
the more obvious fact — especially obvious 
at the moment — that the volleyer wins. 
I feel sure these points are in Mrs. Cham- 
bers' mind, and, at a time when so many 
women are shivering on the brink of the 
volley, it would be well for them to fol- 
low her lead and ponder the manifold 



Spalding's Athletic Library 93 

advantages instead of thinking only of 
the one — winning. 

I know it is quite easy to advocate vol- 
leying. The stumbling block is that vol- 
leying itself is not easy, although it is not 
as difficult as some players make it. Sev- 
eral women wish earnestly to become vol- 
leyers and string up their courage to the 
point of standing (in a very frightened 
attitude!) near the net. But they seldom 
take the trouble beforehand to find out 
anything about how it (meaning the vol- 
ley) should be done, and they cannot sus- 
tain their courage through the rather 
fearful process of acquiring it. I have 
been a volleyer always, and I wish I could 
help everybody to learn "how." Let me 
add hastily that my meaning is not that 
everyone should' model herself on any 
one player. Most players have their own 
distinct style, and some have the strength 
and ability to be a law unto themselves — • 



94 Spalding's Athletic Library 

Miss Ryan is a notable example. But the 
ordinary woman will find it advisable to 
volley in the easiest way, and I am most 
decidedly an adherent of the easiest way. 
Many would-be volleyers bring their 
base-line methods up to the net and expect 
success to follow naturally. I'm afraid it 
won't! 

I did not start out with the intention 
of offering any "hints to beginners" or 
anything of the kind, only to urge the 
pleasure of volleying as well as the profit. 
But being by nature thoroughly didactic 
(or helpful — take your choice), I cannot 
resist the opportunity of trying to reach 
some women who read the Field, but 
would never open any treatise on the 
game. Here, then, are a few hints. 

Keep your racket still when volleying. 
You have to swing at a ground shot to put 
pace on the ball. As a rule when a ball 
is volleyed the pace is already on it. The 



Spalding's Athletic Library 95 

direction only has to be changed, and that 
is most accurately controlled by a firm 
racket, the wrist being used for a ^'follow 
through." Keep the head of the racket 
up. Not that this is the better position in 
which to play the ball, but the action of 
tilting up the head stiffens the wrist in 
just the right way. It gives that tenseness 
necessary to volleying — the very opposite 
of the loose wrist used in a swing. 

Try hard to cultivate anticipation. 
Playing on the base-line you wouldn't 
dream of standing still on one side-line 
while the other was at the mercy of your 
opponent. But sometimes v/hen you vol- 
ley there is an even larger ^'opening" that 
you have never attempted to cover! Think 
of where your opponent can put the ball 
and move there. Don't stand obstinately 
in perhaps the only place in court she 
cannot! 



96 Spalding's Athletic Library 

Two instances will demonstrate my 
meaning most simply. Suppose yourself 
in the right-hand court and the ball in 
your opponent's right-hand corner near 
the base-line. It is useless for you to 
stand near your own "railway lines." 
Your opponent cannot put the ball there. 
Your partner will have had to move to 
her (or his) side of the court to guard 
that side-line. You must move in to the 
centre to guard that. 

In another instance you are still in the 
right court and the ball is in your oppo- 
nents' left-hand corner. In this case your 
enemy has an easy shot down your side- 
line, and you must move out towards that 
to cover it, your partner closing up the 
centre. Get these two elementary exam- 
ples well into your head and you will un- 
derstand the need for anticipation in vol- 
leying. As you go on you will learn more 
and more about the angles of the court 



Spalding s Athletic Library 97 

and the shots that are possible and those 
that are not. 

First learn "how" and then persevere. 
That is the road that success will follow. 
When you have reached your destination 
— and, indeed, even on the way there — 
you will get more fun out of the game 
than you ever did playing solely from the 
base-line. Ethel W. Larcombe. 

The Field remarks on the foregoing: 
"The note, upon which Mrs. Larcombe 
founds her valuable contribution, ex- 
pressly stated that 4t was not concerned 
with the motive for the change.' It sug- 
gested that the spirit of adventure may 
have prompted Mrs. Lambert Chambers 
to come to the net. We never imagined 
that she came up solely to win." 



98 Spalding's Athletic Library 



TENNIS CLOTHES FOR WOMEN 

The out-of-doors has become an important 
part in the life of the present-day woman and 
probably no better indication of this is seen than 
in the multiplicity of shops devoted to women's 
apparel for sport. 

A. G. Spalding & Bros, early recognized this 
trend and several years ago established in theif 
building on Fifth Avenue, New York, a separate 
and complete department devoted exclusively to 
women's wear. Imported garments for tennis, 
golf, and motoring; sport hats, neckwear and 
hosiery are featured. 

That the idea of a women's sport wear de- 
partment in connection with the sale of athletic 
sport equipment was logical is evidenced by the 
great success of the first venture and the exten- 
sion of the idea to other stores of the firm in 
various cities. Chicago has a beautiful women's 
sport specialty shop at 211 South State Street; 
San Francisco took instantly to the innovation, as 
did also the other leading cities of the Pacific 



Spalding's Athletic Library 99 

Coast, while all of the larger municipalities of the 
Middle West and the East are also served. 

WHAT TO WEAR ON THE TENNIS COURT 

In selecting the proper costume for tennis a 
woman's first consideration necessarily must be 
comfort combined with perfect freedom of move- 
ment. In trying to attain this, however, it must 
not be forgotten that neatness and style are also 
essential, since a woman is never more under 
observation than when on a court, especially if, as 
during a tournament, there is a critical gallery. 

The first essential is a well-cut white skirt, of 
sufficient fullness to allow freedom in running and 
not longer than seven inches from the ground. 
The material may be of serge or a light weight 
cloth, silk, linen, or a cotton fabric, the last 
named being by far the most practical. 

With this is worn a sports shirt of tub silk, 
madras or linen. It should have a -turned down 
collar and, if worn without a sweater, be snugly 
belted and made with a tucked bosom, which 
does not wrinkle as easily as the plainer models. 

Soft ribbed white wool hose with or without 
clocks of a contrasting color are the most com- 
fortable and are very smart, but a lighter weight 
stocking may be worn if desired. 

The best shoe is the low buckskin, in all white 
or white and black. Its lasting qualities and the 



1 00 Spalding's A thletic Library 

support it gives to the foot make it far superior 
to the ordinary sneaker, which must be constantly 
whitened to look well and which is not recom- 
mended if there is a tendency to fallen arches. 
Spiked shoes for playing on grass are made in 
white and are much better looking than those in 
black. 

There is no doubt that the ideal garment for 
tennis, as for all other sports, is the sweater. 
With or without sleeves, of light or heavy weight 
wool or silk, and of the most exquisite shades, it 
is suitable for all weathers and very becoming as 
well as practical. The most popular model is the 
simple slip-on, which allows perfect freedom of 
movement and yet gives that trim waist line so 
much to be desired. When worn vnth a white 
skirt and shirtwaist and a sports hat of the same 
color, there is no prettier costume. 

The correct hats are plain and severe, of rough 
straw, leghorn, bangkok, or panama. They may 
have a straight or mushroom brim and should 
have merely a narrow grosgrain ribbon band or 
a soft crepe folded band. 

The hair should be confined with a hairnet and, 
if no hat be worn, a ribbon snood is often used. 

Simplicity, immaculate neatness, and well 
chosen colors are the points that distinguish 
the fastidious and well-dressed woman. 



Spalding's Athletic Library 101 



SELECTING A RACKET 

Weight, balance, size of handle and shape con- 
stitute the four main essentials in the selection 
of a tennis racket. Ash is the principal wood 
used in the manufacture of rackets and the 
heavier its weight the stronger a racket will be. 
It is therefore well to select as heavy a racket as 
will be consistent with one's strength, but not so 
heavy as to impair the quickness and accuracy of 
the stroke. 

Balance is just as important as weight. Often 
a poorly balanced racket will feel heavier than 
one well balanced, although the latter may be an 
ounce or more heavier. The usual balance should 
be from 12^ to 13^ inches, measuring from end 
of handle. 

Of the utmost importance is the size of the 
handle. The general idea that a racket should be 
gripped tightly at all times is erroneous. Only 
at moment of impact is it necessary. At other 
times a fairly loose but firm grasp is advisable. 
A tight grip will cramp the muscles of the arms 
and interfere with the start of the stroke. As 



102 Spalding's Athletic Library 

the size of the handle should vary with the size 
of the hand, no set measurement can be applied. 
The best method is to try several sizes of handles 
and select that which seems most comfortable. 

The larger the surface of the racket, generally 
speaking, the longer the ball will "cling" and 
consequently more "cut" imparted. The tremen- 
dous cut and spin service developed by American 
players has influenced them in preferring a racket 
of a broad, oval type, while the European expert 
usually adheres to the slim, elliptical model. 

However, the final selection of a racket after 
all is a matter of personal choice, but the fore- 
going remarks are given as an aid in considering 
qualifications. 

As a matter of information it may be stated 
that a national women's championship was won 
with a racket weighing 13^ ounces and having a 
balance of 13 inches from end of handle ; size of 
handle, 5 inches ; surface of the narrow, elliptical 
style. 

Players who wish advice concerning the selec- 
tion of a suitable tennis racket — or, in fact, on 
any matter concerning the game — should write 
to any of the stores of A. G. Spalding & Bros., a 
list of which is given on the inside front cover 
of this book. 

As the first essential of proficiency is a knowl- 
edge of the rules, it is suggested that players ob- 



Spalding's Athletic Library 103 

tain a copy of the current Spalding Tennis 
Annual and read the rules thoroughly. The pub- 
lishers of the Annual have gone further than the 
mere printing of the rules, however, and have 
interpolated numerous paragraphs, which will be 
found of great help in clarifying points that 
may be possibly subject to misinterpretation. 

Besides the usual data which an annual pub- 
lication will necessarily contain, the information 
that is printed exclusively in the Spalding Annual 
regarding the methods of conducting a tourna- 
ment, rules for handicapping, duties of officials, 
and even etiquette for spectators, will more than 
repay reading. Probably the most important fea- 
ture of the book, after all, next to the rules, is 
the chapter which describes a simple and inex- 
pensive method of laying out a tennis court. In- 
terest in the game often would be sustained and 
stimulated if the proper method had been fol- 
lowed in the first instance. A well-known expert 
tells in simple language and comparatively few 
words his method of making a court, which any- 
one can follow without a great deal of trouble. 
It is well worth reading. 

COMMUNITY COUNTRY CLUBS 

The growth of athletic sport has created a de- 
mand for a more general knowledge of how a 
club may be organized and conducted. Not the 



1 04 Spalding's A thletic Library 

large clubs that are a part of the life of the large 
cities, but a small club of community interest- 
one might call it a neighborhood club— in which 
seasonal sport combined with the social feature 
would be the main idea. 

With this object in view a book has been pre- 
pared for the Spalding Athletic Library series 
which will go a long way toward helping those 
who contemplate the organization of a commu- 
nity club. This book tells how to organize and 
conduct clubs so that interest may be sustained 
and errors avoided. It costs 25 cents, and will 
prove a great help to those contemplating the or- 
ganization of a club of purely community pur- 
poses or as an adjunct of industrial organization. 





OFFiCIAL 



?v ••;.•"' ;■-■•■ PAT AUG 24 






mM 




Spalding 
Official 
Two-Piece 
Ball 

Unsewed 

No Ripping 
of S earns 



XO the qualities of accuracy and speed 
developed in the Spalding Official Two-Piece 
Ball, introduced last season, have now been 
added the feature of an Unsewed cover. 
The new Spalding method of affixing the cover 
obviates ripping of stitches, inevitable with the 
old style sewed method, and greatly prolongs 
the life of the ball. 

The Spalding Two-Piece Ball will instantly 
commend itself to tournament committees, as 
the added durability of cover, combined with 
precision of manufacture, will reduce the quan- 
tity formerly required, and at the same time 
afford increased satisfaction to contestants. 



StS?e THE SPALDING 



TRADE-MARK "^"nS^^ 



QUALITY 



w;^^^a^^x<^^ AUTOGRAPH RACKETS 




^IlllliiliiillS 



a^^ffi 








No. AA 



No. MB 



No. HA 
SPALDING "AUTOGRAPH" No. AA RACKET 

Black trim, including depressed throat piece and rawhide reinforcement inside and out at bend; gut 
throat winding, Full bow frame, no bevel. Four-sided all cedar handle, 5, 5/i or 5% inches. 
Special expert stringing Without Cover. Each, $15.00 

SPALDING HACKETT & ALEXANDER MODEL HA 

Has depressed throat piece, rawhide reinforcement inside and out at bend, gut throat winding. 
Full bow frame, no bevel. Handles are four-sided, all cedar, 5,5% or SYz inches. Stringing of 
best quality Spalding Autograph gut Without Cover. Each, $15.00 

"MOLLA BJURSTEDT" AUTOGRAPH MODEL MB 

Built with depressed throat piece, gut throat winding. Full bow^ frame, no bevel. The handle is of 
cedar, four-sided, with small size grip. Weight 13K ounces and slightly over or under. Same 
model as used by Miss MoUa Bjurstedt, and her autograph is stamped on each racket. Best 
Spalding Autograph gut Without Cover. Each. $15.00 



IffiiOMPTmENTION GIVEN TO 
11, «NY COMMUNICATIONS 
11^ >DDI1ESSEDT0US 



A. G.SPALDING & BROS, 

STORES IN ALL LARGE CITIES 



FOR COMPLETE LIST OF STORES 

SmNSlOE FRONT COVER 

OF THIS BOM 



PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. Ff 



•pedal CamriUn CaUlogaa 



sSbKe THE SPALDING 




TRADEMARK ''^HZ'^': 



QUALITY 



SPALDING GOLD MEDAL RACKETS 



"ALLCOMERS'" 
RACKET 

Reg. U.S. Pat. Off. 
No. GMF. Walnut 
throat piece; shoulders 
gut wrapped, special 
side reinforcement of 
rawhide. Stringing 
double in the centr^ 
portion, latest expert 
style, best lambs* gut. 
Four-sided cedar 
handles; 5, 5^, 5H 
inches. 

Without Cover 
Each. $12.50 





No. DD 



GOLD MEDAL 
Model H 

Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. 
No. GMH. White 
holly depressed throat 
piece, rawhide rein- 
forcement inside and 
outs.de, and gut w^ound 
shoulders. Four-bided 
cedar handles, 5, 514. 
and 5% inches in cir- 
cumference. The 
stringing is double in 
the central portion in 
the popular expert 
style, best lambs* gut. 

Without Cover 
Each. $12.05 



No. GMF 



No. GMH 



"FAMOUS MODEL" RACKETS 

SPALDING "DOMINO" 

No. DD. Depressed walnut throat, with rawhide 
reinforcement inside and outside. Frame of finest 
w^hite ash, high polished ; combed Spanish cedar 
handle, leather capped. Double stringing in central 
portion. Gut wound shoulders. . Each, $10.00 

SPALDING "INTERNATIONAL" 

No. EE. Walnut throat, rawhide reinforcement 
outside. Frame of finest white ash, highly polished; 
combed Spanish cedar handle, leather capped. Gut 
w^rapped shoulders. Double stringing in central 
portion. Selected gut stringing. . Each, $10.00 




No.EE 



PROMPT ATTENTION 6IVEN TO 
ANY COMMUNICATIONS. 
ADDRESSED TO US ^ 



A.G.SPALDING &, BROS. 

STORES IN ALL LARGE CITIES 



FOR COMPLETE UST OF STORES, 
SEE INSICE FRONT COVEI 
OFTHISTOOI I 



tJCES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. F«t CmmUu price ee* .pecU 



iCsUlogM 



ACCEPT NO 
SUBSTITUTE 



imm 



mmmmmi 



A. G.Spalding & Bros. 

OFFICIAL 

TWO-PIECE 

TENNIS BALL 



SPEEDY 



No. OOH 
ACCURATE 



DURABLE 





-■•:i' Patented ' '- ^^ 

' Auk. 24. 1915 '-^ 

THE NEW TWO-PIECE SPALDlNu WAY 
NO LEAKAGE. No Plug— the ball is blown up before 
being vulcanized— doing away with leakage. 
FRESH BALLS. Shipments of balls from our factory 
to our branch stores are timed to parallel the demand. 

This service assures a perfect ball reachmg you. 

Each, 60c. Doz. $7.20 

Spalding Practice Tennis Ball 

No. 1. Well made balls of new stock. 

For practice or wet weather play, j 

Plain rubber, not covered, I 

Each, 35c. Dozen, $4.00 > 

Wright & Ditson 
"Championship" Tennis Ball 

No. 5. Best quality W. & D. balls. 

Each, 60c. Dozen, $7.20 



TWO-PIECE 

PERFECT FLIGHT AND BOUND. 

All around evenness of wall and ab- 
sence of plug assures this. 

COVER PERMANENCY. Made from 
the very highest grade of Australian 
wool, cemented on by nevv^ process, 
assuring permanent adhesion. No 
sewed seams. 

NO "RATTLERS." This annoyance 
eliminated, because there is no plug 
to get loose. 





THE OLD FOUR-PIECE PLUG STYLE 

Illustrated to show the kind that Spalding does NOT make. 



PROMPT ATTENTION GIVEN TO I 

ANY COMMUNICATIONS 

ADDRESSED TO US 



A. G. SPALDING & BROS. 

STORES IN ALL LARGE. CITIES _ 



FOR COMPLETE LIST OF STORES 

SEE INSIDE FRONT COVER. 

OF THIS BOOR 



mCES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. For Canadian price, see ^edul C«.adi«. Ctologu* 




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